Having failed doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have tried.

Conventional wisdom told me not to do it. I tried anyway.

Over ten years ago, I started a business. On paper, the target market I was going after wasn’t supposed to be a profitable one. On paper, my market wouldn’t think they needed the service I was offering. On paper, my market wouldn’t think they could afford it.

On paper, I should have failed.

But it was a market I cared about, and I earnestly wanted to help them. So I tried anyway.

And the paper turned out to be right.

I failed.

This month, I’m officially shutting down a failed business.

I’ve asked myself, “If you had it to do over again, what would you do differently?” And I realized that, given the same chance, I’d still take the same risk.

I knew at the time that the chances of failure were high. Here’s why I tried anyway:

✅ To succeed would have been life-changing.
✅ I knew I’d learn a lot in the process, and I did.
✅ I was convinced I was called to serve that market in that season.
✅ Possibly most importantly, I did not risk any more than I could afford to lose.

Most of my life, I’ve been afraid of failure. And that fear has often stopped me. But accepting — no, embracing — the failure of my business has strengthened my courage as well as my faith.

Am I glad I failed? Well, no.

But I sure am glad I tried.